What is now the fourth busiest airport in the UK began life as a small rural airfield.
Photo: London Stansted Airport
One of the UK's busiest civil airports began life as something somewhat different. This is the story of how a rural airfield out in the countryside north of London has developed into a major international air hub with 20 airlines offering flights to over 160 destinations across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
Stansted's beginnings and early life
Starting life during the Second World War, Stansted Airport has come a long way in its 80 years of existence. The original airfield where the present-day London Stansted Airport now sits was built on farmland just outside the village of Stansted Mountfitchet in the county of Essex, in the southeast of England. This quaint rural village is located some 40 miles northeast of central London.
Requiring multiple airfields in the east of England to support the airborne war effort, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) built a hard runway on what was then Stansted Mountfitchet airfield halfway through the Second World War.
Photo: London Stansted Airport
With its new tarmac runway, the facility welcomed USAAF bombers for the first time in August 1942, when a fleet of Martin B-26 Marauder heavy bombers took up residency at the airfield. On D-Day in June 1944, bombers from Stansted led more than 600 aircraft over the beaches of occupied France.
Alongside the Marauders, the airfield was also used as an Air Technical Services Command maintenance and supply depot concerned with major overhauls and modifications of B-26s.
Following D-Day in June 1944, these activities, along with the B-26s, were transferred to France, although the base continued to be used as a supply storage area to support USAAF aircraft based on the continent.
Photo: London Stansted Airport
Following the war, the USAAF withdrew from the airfield, and the UK Government's Air Ministry subsequently took it over. Under its new operator, Stansted was primarily used to store surplus military equipment in the immediate post-war years. For a short period between 1946 and 1947, the airfield also housed German prisoners of war.
Despite its long tarmac runway alongside its ample taxiway network and aircraft parking areas, Stansted's future remained uncertain. A burgeoning London Heathrow and, to a lesser extent, London Gatwick and Luton Airport between them catered for almost all civilian airline passengers in the Greater London area at this point.
New life as a civilian airport
The airfield came under the operation of several companies until the 1960s when Stansted Airport's life as a commercial airport began to take off. In 1966, the British Airports Authority (BAA) took control of the airfield, and a new passenger terminal was built in 1969. The existing terminal was then extended in 1970 to increase the number of passengers the airport could handle annually.
The BAA (which also owned Heathrow and Gatwick at this point) hoped to attract both passengers and airlines to their new facility by offering cheaper facilities than the competing London airports. The airport carved a niche for itself initially by handling charter flights.
Although several UK-based charter airlines began using the airport, the majority of these flights originated in the United States as the long runway at Stansted was well suited for fully laden Boeing 707s, Douglas DC-8s, and Convair 880s and 990s to reach the East Coast of the US direct from Stansted.
Photo: London Stansted Airport
The airport's most significant user for scheduled services was Air UK, with its fleet of Handley Page Heralds and later Fokker F27s operating both domestic and European routes throughout the 1980s.
Further development tabled
In 1980, the UK Government issued a parliamentary white paper entitled 'Airport Policy.' Stansted was one of six airports considered for long-term development after the BAA submitted a planning application to the local planning authority to develop the airport.
The proposal, which put forward a new terminal to run alongside the existing runway, was considered between 1981 and 1983. The major expansion of Stansted was confirmed in 1985 to be completed in two phases.
Amid substantial local opposition and following a public inquiry that lasted 258 days, the UK Government finally gave permission for BAA to expand the airport to cater for roughly 15 million passengers a year.
Work on the new airport began in 1986, including a new terminal, aprons and taxiways, new maintenance facilities, access roads, and a dedicated airport railway station. However, it would be another five years before the brand-new terminal was officially opened.
In the meantime, and while the inquiry continued, in June 1983, Stansted welcomed the NASA Space Shuttle 'Enterprise' to the airport. The shuttle was on a European publicity tour atop its Boeing 747 piggyback partner. The event saw over 200,000 people turn out to experience the occasion and the extensive media coverage at the time put Stansted firmly on the map.
In 1987, the airport also became an operating base of a new British transatlantic airline, Highland Express, which offered cut-price services to Newark Airport from the airport (operating via Glasgow Prestwick) using a single Boeing 747-100 registered G-HIHO.
However, this venture was shortlived and ceased operations just four months after starting. Their lone aircraft went on to fly with Virgin Atlantic for many years as G-VMIA.
Stansted becomes London Stansted
In 1991, Queen Elizabeth II opened Stansted's new £400m terminal (designed by renowned British architect Sir Norman Foster), aprons, and taxiways. The new facility increased the airport's capacity from two to eight million passengers per annum. With the opening of the new terminal, the BAA took the opportunity to rename the airport.
Stansted became officially known as London Stansted Airport for the first time, the change in name representing the airport's ambitions to compete with its local neighbors on the world stage.
Photo: London Stansted Airport
It was in the early 1990s when Stansted also saw long-haul scheduled services once more. American Airlines launched a transatlantic flight from London Stansted to Chicago O'Hare International Airport using Boeing 767-200s.
However, this service struggled to compete with the high-frequency services offered on the same route from London Heathrow by British Airways, United Airlines, and even American Airlines itself and was eventually withdrawn in 1993.
Although short-lived, the American Airlines service demonstrated Stansted's potential to offer long-haul services and compete as one of the country's most successful airports.
Ryanair moved into Stansted's new terminal in the mid-1990s, initially operating high-frequency services between Stansted and Dublin using BAC One-Elevens and later Boeing 737-200s.
The airline has since become the airport's largest and most successful operator, with a large fleet of Boeing 737-800s and 737 MAX 8-200s based at the airport operating in the colors of Ryanair itself, as well as for subsidiaries Malta Air and Buzz. Ryanair subsidiary Lauda also operates from the airport with its fleet of Airbus A320s.
Photo: Ryanair
In 1999, permission was given for Phase 2 of Stansted's development to go ahead. Work on the second phase commenced at the turn of the century. Another lengthy public consultation began on the proposal to expand the airport's handling capacity to 25 million passengers a year.
Planning permission was subsequently granted by the local planning authority to expand the airport to cater to that number in 2002. Additionally, the UK Government's South East and East of England Regional Air Services study published in 2003 included Stansted in the future of aviation in the southeast over the next 30 years. At the same time, construction work began on the £40m project to extend the airport's main terminal building.
London Stansted Airport was bought by the Manchester Airport Group from the BAA in 2013 for £1.5 billion (US$1,8 billion), which pledged to invest new capital in facilities and to attract new carriers to the airport, expanding its offerings in terms of routes and destinations.
Notable route launches
Long-haul services to the United States returned in late 2005 when EOS Airlines and MAXjet commenced all-business class services from Stansted to New York JFK. In 2006, MAXjet expanded its service with flights to Washington, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles.
American Airlines also returned, offering daily flights to Stansted in October 2007 from New York–JFK However, because of the worldwide economic recession in 2008 and the jump in fuel prices, all three services to the United States were discontinued following the demise of MAXjet in December 2007 and Eos Airlines in April 2008. Finally, in July 2008, American Airlines withdrew from the airport.
Low-cost Scandinavian airline Primera Air launched non-stop flights from Stansted to New York, Boston, and Washington until the airline's collapse meant the discontinuation of the routes by 2018, leaving the airport without transatlantic routes once more.
Long-haul services to Asia commenced in March 2009 with Malaysian low-cost airline AirAsia X providing direct flights to Kuala Lumpur. However, in October 2011, this service moved to London Gatwick before being later withdrawn completely. The airline is expected to serve London again in 2023, although the airport to be served has not yet been confirmed by the airline.
Before the pandemic, Emirates served the airport daily to Dubai. Although this service was withdrawn during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has since returned this year, flown by the airline's Boeing 777-300ER fleet. The airport has even just installed a double airbridge for the carrier's flights.
Alongside its passenger and freight services, London Stansted Airport has become known for handling unusual and special flights. Since the beginning of Barrack Obama's first term in 2008, the airport has acted as the designated London Airport for Air Force One visits. The last visit by Air Force One was made with current president Joe Biden onboard for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral in September 2022.
Photo: London Stansted Airport
In addition to hosting the occasional US presidential drop-in, the airport serves as the designated diversion site for terrorist-related incidents in UK airspace. This is because its design allows a hijacked airliner to be isolated well away from any terminal buildings or runways, allowing the airport to continue to operate while negotiations are carried out or even while an assault or rescue mission is undertaken.
For this reason, Stansted has been involved in more hijack incidents than might be expected for an airport of its size. The airport was most recently used for such purposes when on October 12th, 2022, a Jet2 flight from Dalaman in Turkey heading to Manchester in the UK was escorted to Stansted by RAF Typhoons after being diverted away from its destination following a security scare.
The future looks bright for Stansted
The airport celebrated the 30th anniversary of operations from the new terminal in 2021. It also witnessed the opening of the airport's very own learning center back in 2015, a unique offering among airports in the UK.
Known as 'Aerozone Stansted,' the center is a hi-tech education hub designed to inspire children and young adults about the key STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering, and maths. Its primary role is to encourage interest in these subjects in school children and to promote careers in the aviation industry.
Since its opening, the £500,000 aviation-themed learning hub has welcomed an incredible 15,000 children. A favorite aspect of Aerozone is the viewing platform which has panoramic views across the airfield so that visitors can watch the airport in full operation.
While Stansted Airport has seen mass change over the last few decades, more significant developments are on the horizon, with £600m set to be invested in facilities over the next five years to transform the airport.
Photo: London Stansted Airport
A new arrivals terminal is planned to be built at Stansted. The facility is intended to include larger immigration and baggage reclaim areas, with more shops and facilities available after arrival into the UK. The current terminal will be reconfigured for departures only, with security and check-in areas to be expanded.
The project is expected to cost £130 million and, once completed, will make London Stansted the only airport in the UK with dedicated arrivals and departures terminal buildings. The airport will also be able to handle 30 million passengers annually once the new facility is opened.
Meanwhile, London Stansted's strong recovery from the pandemic continues, with 2.5 million passengers traveling through the airport in July 2022, representing 90% of pre-Covid traffic.
